Twinning: Finland to develop production of statistics in Belarus

A joint tender by Denmark, Finland and Lithuania has won a contract for a Twinning project in Belarus. The two-year project will strengthen the preconditions for producing high-quality data for decision-makers in Belarus. Finland's representative in the project is Statistics Finland.

The project is closely linked to the efforts to develop the national statistical system and the operational capabilities of the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, Belstat. To support this work, Belarus has prepared a strategy spanning the years until 2022. The Twinning project will support Belarus in reaching the objectives of the strategy. Being awarded this contract continues Finland's recent excellent success in calls for Twinning project tenders.

Finland will be able to continue its good Twinning project cooperation with Belarus. Picture: Leena Storgårds

Cooperation between producers of official statistics

The Twinning project will widely strengthen the preconditions for producing statistics in Belarus. The project will support the construction of a data warehouse for administrative datasets and the development of tools for managing the production of high-quality data. In addition, the project will improve the compilation of statistics related to the use of resources for environmental protection, enhance the preconditions for sharing statistics internationally, and produce micro-data for research purposes.

The project will be implemented by Statistics Finland together with the Danish and Lithuanian offices for national statistics. The participating countries will have specific responsibilities for certain sectors in the project. The Danish statistical office (Danmarks Statistik) will be responsible for the progress of the project as a whole.

“We will be able to use our expertise widely and take the lead responsibility for the part of the project that focuses on the construction of a data warehouse for administrative datasets. We have participated in several Twinning projects and worked in cooperation with our Danish and Lithuania colleagues. It is good to be able to continue the cooperation in Belarus,” says Leena Storgårds, Director at Statistics Finland.

The project aims to strengthen the operational capabilities of the National Statistical Committee of Belarus. Picture: Leena Storgårds

Launch date open due to coronavirus

Belarus has participated in Twinning projects since 2018, which is why it is still a fairly new Twinning actor. Finland’s first Twinning project in Belarus was launched in summer 2019. The coronavirus pandemic is currently hampering Twinning projects widely and the exact launch date of the new project in Belarus remains open for the time being.

Twinning is a European Union instrument for the development of public administration and legislation in the European Union’s neighbouring areas. The instrument supports projects related to the EU’s enlargement and neighbourhood policy. EU Member States are invited to submit their tenders and partner countries select the actor(s) to carry out the projects.

The actor(s) implementing the project and the partner country work in close cooperation to achieve the objectives set for the Twinning project. Individual Twinning projects last approximately two years and the project budget ranges between EUR 1 to 2 million. In Finland, Twinning activities are coordinated by the Twinning team at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.